Tag Archives: Kosta Harlan

About one hundred students joined the contingent of Students for a Democratic Society. Chapters from Washington D.C., Rochester, NY, Chapel Hill, NC, Asheville, NC, Gainesville, FL, and other cities participated in the contingent.

Washington, D.C. – About ten thousand demonstrators filled Lafayette Park across from the White House to demand an end to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. March 20 marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, while the occupation of Afghanistan is now in its eighth year. A broad range of organizations mobilized for the demonstration, organized by the International ANSWER coalition. Military veterans, student groups, trade unions, Arab American organizations, church congregations, and many other groups brought thousands of people into D.C. for the rally.

Parliamentary elections took place in occupied Iraq on March 8 as rockets and mortars slammed into the Green Zone and U.S. military bases across the country. The U.S. government and its allies in occupied Iraq have hailed the election as a victory for democracy (Newsweek went so far as to write “Victory at last” across the cover of their latest issue), but the reality is anything but. The elections are nothing but a continuation of the same illegal, unjust occupation political process that began when the U.S. invaded and overthrew the anti-imperialist Iraqi government in 2003. The latest election only serves to consolidate the existence of a puppet regime loyal to the U.S. occupation.

Iran celebrates 31 years of sovereignty
By Kosta Harlan February 12, 2010
Read more articles in Iran

Tehran, Iran – Millions of Iranians rallied on Feb. 11 to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the hated U.S.-backed Pahlavi monarchy. In Tehran a massive crowd of 5 million took to the streets, while rallies were held in 800 other cities around the country.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee, commented that the enormous demonstrations showed “the nation’s determination in maintaining national unity…in the realization of political, economic and social developments and particularly in advancing civilian nuclear technology.” Addressing the propaganda in Western media that attempts to show the Iranian government as unpopular or weakened by the opposition movement, Khazaee said, “The Islamic Republic has now become a powerful and strategic country, where people enjoy a strong sense of unity and solidarity. It is a fact that Western powers must learn to deal with.”

Imperialism and Iran’s Elections

Commentary by Kosta Harlan

A struggle has broken out over the results of Iran’s presidential elections, held Friday June 12, which resulted in the apparent landslide victory of incumbent President Ahmadinejad. On Friday night, before the results had been announced, the main opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the winner. The following day, Iran’s election commission announced that Ahmadinejad had won with 62% of the vote. Mousavi responded with allegations of vote-rigging. This set into motion a chain of events that has resulted in hundreds of thousands coming out to the streets in protest. Some of the protests turned into riots, with protesters attacking police, government offices and banks and burning cars. 19 people are reported to have died in clashes with the government.

Students at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill made national headlines last week when they confronted the racist ex-congressman Tom Tancredo. 200 students marched, shouted down, or silently protested Tancredo. When 60 students chanted in the lobby of the building where he was to speak, police attacked the demonstration with pepper spray. Two women were thrown to the floor, another protester had her hair pulled by a cop and several people were pushed into the walls. The police drove the students out by threatening them with tasers. Shortly after we were pushed out, a window was broken and the event was shut down.

Thousands of articles, commentaries, and editorials have been written on this event. Most of it is a waste of everyone’s time. In typical mainstream media fashion, most of the coverage has completely turned reality on its head. Like Malcolm X would have said, they make the victim look like the villain and the oppressors look like the oppressed.

Asheville, NC - Around 25 student activists and organizers from seven cities throughout the southeast came to Asheville, North Carolina, April 4, for a conference called “The Crisis of Imperialism and Building a Revolutionary Movement.” This regional student conference was hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

What follows is sort of an annotated list of readings that should help anti-war and anti-intervention activists understand the U.S. war and occupation of Afghanistan from an anti-imperialist point of view. I may add to this as time goes on.